The Innkeeper’s Daughter by Michelle Griep

I have been waiting for another Bow Street Runner Book since I first read Brentwood’s Ward (review here). As soon as The Innkeepers Daughter was up for preorder, I preordered it… and then I preordered again a few months later when I forgot I’d already bought it. Oops… luckily I did catch it before Amazon shipped them both, so now I have money set aside for the THIRD one she’s working on now. Squee!!

This book is so well written that I struggled to separate my reader-self from my writing-self. As gripped as I was by reading the story, I kept stopping to examine how she did it. Seriously, if you are a writer and want a good author to study deep POV and story world creation, Michelle is it. As a reader, you will absolutely forget you live in the 21st century and live in Regency England.

Alright enough swooning and rambling:

Genre: Historical Romance, Regency England

Plot Overview: Joanna struggles to keep her family’s inn afloat and if they don’t pay their debts by the end of the month, she, her mother, and her younger brother will be sent to the workhouse. Alexander Moore is a Bow Street Runner sent to conduct a mission off the books, one that if he is discovered could end his life with none of his friends or the magistrate who sent him to step in to help. Staying at Joanna’s rundown inn puts him in constant contact with the woman determined to ignore his unrelenting charm, but finding the traitor to the crown must come first or they could all end up dead.

What I loved: The number of historical fiction novels that fully encompass a detective story and romance well are rare in my opinion. My desire for a good, suspenseful mystery and a swoony romance are simultaneously met in this book. I kept trying to figure out who the traitor really was and wondering how Joanna and Alex would get together. The struggles were real and intense and completely fulfilled every desire this chica craves in a book.

As a writer, OH MY GOODNESS! I want to write like her. I am literally copying pages of her work and analyzing how she draws readers so completely into her world. I have examined pacing and story structure of other authors but never to the degree I am now. To master deep POV and story world is a goal of mine, and studying Michelle will definitely help me grow closer to that goal.

Favorite Character: Alexander Moore, no contest. I thought Brentwood was swoony, but Brentwood has nothing on Alex. Whew, doggie! *fans self* Strong, smart, compassionate, and yet a man of God. Oh, yes, it is a good thing he is a fictional character because I am already married.

Who would like this: Anyone who loves a good detective story, swoony romance, danger, interesting characters, down-right awful villains, and a strong story that submerses you so deep into its waters, you are in danger of drowning.

Rating and Why: This is a five-star story for me. Her mastery of deep POV and story world is a large part of that. Being so completely swept away and surprised at the end is very hard to do and she has done it again. And who wouldn’t give Alex a five-star score? *swoon*